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Highlights of recent developments on the MiniSShot Project
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- As planned, Rick Maschek test fired the Blast Tube Motor (BTM) with a
monolithic finocyl grain (cast as three separate grains bonded on top of
the other). The firing was successful and chamber pressure was recorded
throughout the duration of the burn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3bS1UlouJs
(video courtesy Rick Maschek)
The results of this firing will be examined & assessed over the next while.
- Richard has completed testing a batch of phenolic based ablators.
Eight specimens were tested, each with varying proportions of phenolic
resin, phenolic microballoons, and chopped glass fibre. The results, in
terms of heat conducted through the ablative material and percent of
material ablated away, will be compared to specimens tested earlier.
Those specimens were similar but based on epoxy or polyester resin. The
most effective ablator will be used as part of the Thermal Protection
System of the MiniSShot motor.
http://sugarshot.org/downloads/ablator_27b_graph.gif
http://sugarshot.org/downloads/phenolic_ablator_3.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P77jgqxAD-I
(video + photos courtesy Richard Nakka)
- This Saturday, Chris King had intended on performing a range check of
the radio beacons. Instead, Chris experienced an unpleasant misadventure:
"Some bad news. I went out to the open desert today to test the range of
the radio beacons. I turned on and set out both beacons on the ground
miles off the highway and proceeded to drive back with the radio
receiver and antenna etc. When I left I passed a truck parked 1/4 mile
down the road. As I passed it promptly drove off in the direction I had
come. It struck me as odd so I turned around and raced back to the
equipment only seconds behind him. When I arrived I observed an old man
and truck parked and standing beside my gear. He was about to claim all
the gear I had "abandoned". He also had driven his truck over both
transmitters, batteries, Big Red Bee and all. Bull's-eye as if he aimed
right at them. I couldn't believe it, he crushed everything. One tire
was resting directly on top of an amplifier. Everything was crushed. I
was devastated. He said he was just looking for brass casings from spent
bullets. Apparently he was hanging around watching me. Anyway I gathered
what was left. Some things still appear to be salvageable but it will
take a couple weeks at least to repair. I have some spare parts and the
other amplifiers from RF-Links. It appears the tin containers I built
around the circuit cards took protected things somewhat but I haven't
cut them open yet. It may be possible to recover soon but man it was a
bad day."
Chris has since begun assessing the damage and it appears some of the
parts may be salvaged.
- Monroe King has completed fabrication of the four couplers for the
MiniSShot flight vehicle. These couplers, machined from 6061 aluminum,
connect:
a) booster to aft avionics compartment
b) aft avionics compartment to recovery fairing (pair of tapered couplers)
c) recovery fairing to nosecone
http://teamprometheus.org/movies/Blog
A big Thanks goes out to Monroe for donating his skilled machining services.
- Alberto Gassol has updated the Sugar Shot website. Photos and videos
taken over the past few months have now been posted on the Showcase page:
http://www.sugarshot.org/gallery/minisshot.html
Alberto has additionally begun posting the Weekly Activity Reports on
our website ( a great idea, thanks, Alberto).
http://www.sugarshot.org/news.html
- Craig Strudwicke reports that he has been assembling an avionics
module for another project that may have relevance for the future SS2S
projects. This module "contains a triaxial magnetometer, rate gyro (roll
axis) and accelerometer (Zaxis) for estimating air speed. It also
contains a pair of fins operating in differential mode for roll control.
It also has two pairs of thermopiles to be used for horizon
sensing/attitude measurement for the pitch and yaw axes. This will fly
the last weekend of May."
Some pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cstrudwicke/RollController?authkey=Gv1sRgCIasuOukpLr1Rg&feat=directlink
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Expenses have been adding up and our funds are dwindling. To help keep
SS2S alive and thrivng, help out by making a contribution to the Sugar
Shot to Space program.
http://www.sugarshot.org/sponsors.html#Donors
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Project
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